Clock Runs Out on Arena Football League

Owners can't reach agreement on new financial model
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 4, 2009 1:12 PM CDT
Clock Runs Out on Arena Football League
In this 2008 file photo, Jim Foster, left, founder of the Arena Football League, holds a trophy with Jon Bon Jovi, a majority owner of the Philadelphia Soul, after the ArenaBowl XXII.   (AP Photo)

The Arena Football League, which canceled its 2009 season to work on its financial model, won’t be back, barring a big surprise. A team official says the league voted to indefinitely suspend operations, and a formal announcement should come soon, the Columbus Dispatch reports. Owners couldn’t agree on a restructuring plan—a decision that required 75% agreement among ownership groups.

The league appeared vibrant just last year, but the troubled economy highlighted its financial problems, leading to the season cancellation. “If we were in better economic times, the votes would have been different,” said Jim Renacci of the Columbus Destroyers. (More Arena Football League stories.)

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